BB-8 Sphere Casting

After seeing all the awesome spheres Heath Knuckles has made, I decided it was time to give it a try. I wanted to do something a little different, so I added a BB-8 Pez dispenser top to the blank. Biggest blank I’ve made to date, and I’m really looking forward to turning it!

I used 2700 grams of Alumilite Clear Slow Set for this project, and I lightly tinted the resin using Alumilite orange dye. To sneak up on the color, I just kept adding a pinprick of dye to the resin until I was happy with the color.

To cast the blank, I used a 6″ PVC pipe and capped it off with a Fernco rubber pipe cap that I picked up on Amazon (affiliate link). Overall, the setup was pretty simple. To hold the burl cap in place, I just wedged a small piece of wood between the pipe and the burl cap. This helps ensure it doesn’t float or move around once you add the resin and pressurize it.

Tune in next week to see the blank get turned on the lathe. This will be my first sphere turning, so I hope it goes well!